2010 News Releases

Three appointed to Longwood Board of Visitors

A Longwood University alumna who later worked in the admissions office and a benefactor of the university's nursing program are among the three new members of the Board of Visitors.

Those recently appointed to the Board by Gov. Bob McDonnell are Dr. Edward I. Gordon of Farmville, a physician who practices family medicine; Dr. Judi M. Lynch of Christiansburg, director of special initiatives in the Office of the Dean at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech; and Ronald Olswyn White of Midlothian, district representative and military liaison for U.S. Rep. J. Randy Forbes.

Dr. Lynch is a 1987 Longwood graduate (B.A. in English) and worked as a counselor in the admissions office for 10 months in 1990-91.

In August 2009 Dr. Gordon gave $1 million to fund the Clinical Simulation Learning Center for the new nursing program. This is the largest gift from a local donor in the university's history.

Dr. Gordon has practiced pediatric and family medicine in Farmville for 37 years. In addition to his family practice, he is medical director and practices geriatric medicine at The Woodland retirement community; medical director for Piedmont Regional Jail and Farmville Police Department; medical examiner for Prince Edward and Cumberland counties; and teaches forensics at the Central Virginia Criminal Justice Academy in Lynchburg. He developed the pediatric and nursery departments for Southside Community Hospital where he also established the newborn and pediatric intensive care units. He has represented Ward A on Farmville Town Council for four years and was re-elected in May to another four-year term. A native of Millburn, N.J., he has a B.S. from Seton Hall University, a medical degree from the University of Maryland/Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins, and he did his internship and residency at the New Jersey College of Medicine.

Dr. Lynch has been with the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine since 2003. She also has worked at Virginia Tech in the College of Engineering as director of undergraduate recruitment and for the Virginia Tech Alumni Association as the student and alumni programs coordinator. She began working there in 1992 as a part-time graduate assistant in the alumni office, which turned into a full-time position in 1994 after earning an M.A. in education at Virginia Tech the previous year. She earned a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 2003 in educational leadership and policy studies with a focus on higher education administration and women's leadership development. She advises several undergraduate student organizations, including Alpha Delta Pi sorority (of which she was an undergraduate member at Longwood), the College Republicans (which she chaired at Longwood), and Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society, and she is a faculty member of Hokies United, a student community effort, and a member of the Alumnae Association Board of Directors of St. Gertrude High School in Richmond, from which she graduated.

In May Dr. Lynch was named to Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell's advisory council to support the First Lady's Initiatives Team Effort (FLITE), which will focus attention on efforts in tourism, military families, and women's business and entrepreneurship. Dr. Lynch is a member of the advisory council's steering committee, of which there are about a dozen members.

"I travel often to Richmond on business, and every time I go there I take the Farmville exit and drive through the Longwood campus, which always gives me a positive, happy feeling," said Dr. Lynch, who grew up in Cape May Courthouse, N.J., and later Richmond. "I've always held the university close to my heart."

White has worked since July 2009 for Congressman Forbes (R-4th) in the Colonial Heights District office, one of three district offices. A 1984 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he served in the Army for more than 21 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After retiring from the Army in 2005 (his last assignment was at Fort Lee), he was the supplier diversity leader for Genworth Financial and then was a financial adviser with Merrill Lynch, both in Richmond. He has been a board member of the Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council and Virginia Heroes Inc., and he currently is a board member of the Richmond African American Scholarship Fund and the Regional Drug Free Alliance. A native of the New York City area, he has an M.S. from Bowie State University and is a Ph.D. candidate at Capella University, having completed all but his dissertation.

The new Board members replace George W. Dawson; Robert E. Frye Sr., and Dr. Helen Warriner-Burke, '56, who was rector the past year. Board members serve a four-year term and are eligible to be re-appointed to one additional four-year term.